The ‘Giving Green Paper’ was launched during the good will period between Christmas and New Year and achieved some media coverage as a result, but interestingly not much response from the charity sector.

The paper’s aim is to suggest ways to inspire and increase participation in giving and volunteering in the UK to help produce the Big Society’s social action plan (more on that later, I’m sure). The overall theme is a drive towards a culture change to replicate US levels of contributions (where the UK ranks 2nd) and volunteering (UK a disappointing 29th place). It even uses a handy acronym GIVES – Great opportunities (creative channels for giving money or time), Information, Visibility (using peer pressure to encourage giving), Exchange and reciprocity (giving is good for you), and Support (the infrastructure required).